SIR Patient Resource on Uterine Fibroids Includes National Survey Results on Patient Awareness

July 9, 2024—The Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) announced the publication of The Fibroid Fix: What Women Need to Know as a resource to inform women about minimally invasive treatment options for uterine fibroids, like uterine fibroid embolization (UFE).

The society advised that the report includes findings from a survey of 1,122 women in the United States, ages ≥ 18 years; 167 of whom have been diagnosed with uterine fibroids. The survey was conducted online in the United States from May 30 to June 3, 2024, by The Harris Poll on behalf of SIR.

According to SIR, the survey found the following:

• Among women who have been diagnosed with uterine fibroids, more than half (53%) were presented with hysterectomy as treatment.
• Less than one in five (20%) of those women diagnosed with uterine fibroids were presented with other less invasive options—eg, over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (19%); UFE (17%); oral contraceptives (17%); and endometrial ablation (17%).
• Some women (17%)—including > one in four women aged 18 to 34 years (27%)—mistakenly thought a hysterectomy is the only treatment option.

The survey also demonstrated a lack of awareness among women regarding uterine fibroids. For example, approximately three-fourths of women (72%) did not know they are at risk for developing uterine fibroids—SIR noted that up to 77% of adult women will develop fibroids at some point in their life and fibroids disproportionately affect women of color, with Black women having the highest incidence.

SIR advised that even though several studies have noted the long-term efficacy of UFE, the survey showed that women are not learning about UFE from their doctors. Among women who have heard of or are familiar with UFE, only two in five (40%) first heard or learned about it from a health care provider.

As outlined by SIR, other findings from the survey include the following:

• More than half of women ages 18 to 34 (56%) and women ages 35 to 44 (51%) said they were not familiar with or never heard of uterine fibroids.
• 50% of Hispanic women say they had never heard of or were not familiar with uterine fibroids, compared to approximately two in five Black women (37%).
• 36% of Black women and 22% of Hispanic women mistakenly thought they were not at risk for developing fibroids, yet uterine fibroids are three times more common in Black women and two times more common in Hispanic women (citing Catherino et al. Semin Reprod Med. 2013;31:370-379).
• If women were looking for or choosing a treatment for uterine fibroids, the most important aspects would be that it cures the fibroids so that they do not recur (48%) and that it has proven effectiveness (46%).

“The survey findings, coupled with the low number of women who were offered a minimally invasive treatment like UFE, indicate that women are not being given all of the information they need to make their own health care decisions,” commented John C. Lipman, MD, in the SIR press release. Dr. Lipman, an adviser for the report, is the founder and medical director of the Atlanta Fibroid Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

He continued, “Not offering minimally invasive treatments like UFE in addition to the surgical treatment options is a significant oversight. Women need to be informed about the complete range of options available for treating their uterine fibroids; not just the surgical options, as is most commonly done by gynecologists.”

Dr. Lipman added, “Women suffering from fibroids are often given only one treatment option by their gynecologist—hysterectomy—without being informed of less invasive treatments, like UFE. Many patients don’t want a hysterectomy and they’re left to suffer in silence, even though their lives could be transformed back to normal if they only knew about UFE.”

Addressing the findings in the press release, SIR President Robert J. Lewandowski, MD, stated, “The survey noted deep disparities in awareness and access regarding fibroids and fibroid treatments among Black and Hispanic women, who have a higher risk factor for developing uterine fibroids. The data serve as a guiding light for improving physician and patient educational efforts on various treatments to ensure all women, regardless of background, are informed about their risks and the full range of treatment options available.” Dr. Lewandowski is a professor at Northwestern Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

SIR advised that the sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the full sample data is accurate to within ± 3.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.

More information on the complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, can be attained by contacting Kathleen Petty (kpetty@thereisgroup.com) or Matt Porter (mporter@thereisgroup.com) at The Reis Group on behalf of SIR.

In August 2017, SIR announced findings from a similar survey of women on uterine fibroids conducted by The Harris Poll with the results included in the 2017 edition of The Fibroid Fix: What Women Need to Know.